MY COMIC CAREER IS OLD ENOUGH TO DRIVE

Thoughts on a birthday, the mind-bending power of James Stokoe and a beautiful GODDAMNED finale

May 26

My son turned 16 this week. Which means my career as a full-time comic book writer did the same.

I quit my last day job when my kid, Dash, was born, to stay home with him, leaving behind a promising career in the lugging-boxes-around-a-fucking-warehouse industry to instead make up funny book stories in my head while pushing a stroller around the suburbs. It’s been a dream job. Literally. In that I feel like a professional daydreamer. And Dash got lots of Junji Ito books for his birthday, because he’s been devouring the guy’s work lately (and sometimes emerging from his room literally screaming in horror and revulsion, as you do when you experience Junji Ito), so the love of comics carries on.

If you’ve picked up any of my work over the years, with your hard-earned or however-the-fuck earned dollars, then thank you from the bottom of my deep-fried Alabama heart for being a part of making my career as a walking daydreamer possible. Seriously. Because that warehouse was hot as fuck.

Sweet Sixteen Sale

In thanks for that support and in honor of this week’s monumental birthday, I’ll be offering a Sweet Sixteen discount in my online store for the next month. Just enter the promo code SWEETSIXTEEN upon check-out for a 16% discount on any and all items.

Sorry, Junji Ito’s books are not included. But I do have some new comics in stores this week that feature work by a couple of other artistic geniuses whose work manages to be beautiful, profoundly imaginative and batshit fucking insane all at once.

Today’s New Releases Are Everything Your Eyeballs Desire

James Stokoe.

I feel like that’s all I should have to say to make you rush out to pick up today’s HEROES REBORN #4. Your eyeballs will thank you. Or maybe shrivel up inside your skull like raisins hurled directly into the sun, overcome by the mind-withering power of art that appears to have emerged from some place far beyond the limits of human hands and minds, some grand and godly dimension into which mortal eyes were never meant to gaze. Or maybe all that and then your raisin eyes will also thank you, I don’t know. I’m just saying you should go buy it. It’s about a space cop with a Power Prism fighting a bounty hunting raccoon with a talking tree gun, in space. That sounds made-up, and it is, but look here see it’s actually a real thing that exists now.

Your eyes are fucking curled up inside their sockets right now, just whimpering “May I have another please” over and over again, aren’t they? I know, that’s how I felt every day I’d get these images in my inbox. It’s seriously a tremendous joy and honor to get to work with James on this. I put this comic up there alongside some of my favorite issues I’ve ever gotten to do with some of the most amazing artists I’ve ever worked with. And if this is your first experience with James Stokoe’s amazing work, then for sure also pick up his art book GRUNT, which is sitting on my coffee table right now, and his new Dark Horse series, ORPHAN AND THE FIVE BEASTS. Your eyeballs will want more. I know they will.

And as I said, James isn’t the only mad genius I was fortunate enough to work with for today’s new releases. The finale of THE GODDAMNED: THE VIRGIN BRIDES is also out today, with some truly astounding and hauntingly powerful art by rmGuéra and colorist Giulia Brusco. Here’s a little tease, including some of Guéra’s pure unfiltered power.

It’s clearly a lovely week for Junji Ito birthdays and weddings overrun with snakes.

And if you haven’t checked out THE GODDAMNED before, our dark little stone age crime series about the very first Biblical apocalypse, you can find the first volume trade, oversized hardcover and all single issues of both volume one and volume two currently available to order in my store, including as bundles. And yes, there is a bundle for the Whole Goddamned Thing, because of course there should be.

Other News & a Final Treat for Your Face

The comic book solicitations for August are out. You can find everything I’ve got coming out compiled here, along with my thoughts.

In addition to new issues of AVENGERS and MIGHTY VALKYRIES, it includes my contribution to Image’s OLD GUARD anthology and the advance solicit for a new printing of the WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN omnibus.

I get asked omnibus questions a lot. No, I usually don’t know when Marvel will be reprinting an old omnibus of mine or putting out a new one. And even when I do, I’m not allowed to say anything until they’re ready to announce it themselves. So no, I’m afraid I don’t know when Marvel will put out an omnibus collecting my entire THOR run, but I would certainly expect that to happen at some point in the future. You can definitely expect to hear about any of that sort of news right here.

Speaking of which, it was just recently announced that my DOCTOR STRANGE run with Chris Bachalo will be getting its own omnibus early next year. So, you know, start planning your 2022 accordingly.

And here’s that final face treat, because I love you. If you didn’t pick up THE MIGHTY VALKYRIES #2 last week, then you missed artist Mattia De Iulis dropping mustache-powered sex bombs like this:

This has been BEARD MISSIVES, direct from the fully-bearded face of Jason Aaron, which for the first time is feeling…rather envious… of a… a… (gods help me)… a mustache.

This week’s newsletter has been brought to you by Twizzlers new Mystery Flavor twists (some kinda berry? blueberry maybe?), Key Lime Pie Kit Kat, Trader Joe’s pineapple fruit spread and homemade sangria (it’s summer now, right? can it be summer already?).

Stay safe. Stay as dazzlingly perfect as Kraven’s ‘stache. Stay loved.

Jason Aaron

May 26, 2021

Beard Missives Archive